Resogun is the newest PlayStation exclusive digital title from developer House Marque. They have built a solid reputation with the PlayStation nation through stellar games such as Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation. Resogun draws much stronger similarities to Super Stardust; another old school arcade shooter that was reimagined for the current generation. Super Stardust HD is most comparable to the classic Asteroids on a spherical map while Resogun is more of a Defender clone on a cylindrical map.

In a nutshell, Resogun is all about saving humans from alien captivity and getting them back to your home base. Each of the five maps within the game has ten savable humans. They are being held within visible cages around the cylinder. In order to release a human from one of the cages, a group of keepers must first be destroyed. Their entrance onto the level is marked by the announcer's statement, "Keepers Detected." As opposed to normal enemies, the keepers will either have a green or red glow to them. If both green and red enemies are within the group of keepers, the green glowing enemies must be destroyed first. When all keepers are eliminated, a green beam will shoot off to the cage that releases a human. You must then follow markers to get to that human as quickly as possible to pick him up and bring him to a designated area for rescue to your mother ship, all while trying to survive the onslaught of alien enemies. If you don't get to the released human fast enough, an alien craft will suck him up with a tractor beam and he will be lost forever. The end of each level is marked with a boss battle. On normal mode, the boss battles are a bit too easy with the exclusion of the final boss. There are some good ideas buried within each, but I feel like the addition of an extra phase onto each boss would have gone a long way.

All in all, it's overwhelming, but that's what makes Resogun so satisfying. Even with all of the above bombarding you into sensory overload, Resogun never feels unfair. You always feel in complete control of your ship; so much so that any death can only be blamed on yourself. It is when you truly master each level and its enemy patterns that you will appreciate Resogun to the fullest. In order to master a level, it is all about saving every human, never dying, never using any bombs, and never losing your multiplier. Of course none of that is necessary. However, if you want any shot at hitting near the top of the leaderboards you better strive for a few of them.

Boost will be your best friend...

To best have a shot at mastering a level, you must take advantage of every tool at your disposal; most important of all is the boost. Boosting not only gets you out of tough moments since it allows you to kill anything in your path; it also opens up the opportunity to collect some major points and build your multiplier quickly. The thing about boost is that it builds through the destruction of enemies. So as you're boosting through alien ships, your boost is building back up. If you're able to push through enemies swiftly enough, you could achieve a boost that sends you around the full map twice or even more. Of course another way to quickly get out of a jam is to set off a bomb clearing the entire map. However, as said earlier using bombs destroys your perfect run. Your score at the end of each level will take each bomb left in your arsenal and add big points onto your final score. But if the choice is between losing a bomb from your arsenal and death, choose the bomb every time; especially to see the beautiful destruction that will result.

The visuals in Resogun are very attractive, but it takes something like the detonation of a bomb to see the magic behind Resogun's graphics. This magic is also known as voxels. Every single element in the game environment is constructed from tiny little cubes; think Minecraft on a massive scale. With each enemy that you attack, the voxels will fall and collect on the floor of the cylindrical level. With larger enemies or bosses, the voxels will pile up to the point that they actually fall off the edges of the platform. This might not sound like much but in motion, it is wildly impressive; and when you think about the technology behind such a foundation to the graphical engine, it is plain to see that this simply wasn't possible in the previous generation.

However, Resogun is a game that would succeed even if it were developed for the PlayStation through or even the Vita. It succeeds because it is addictive. Battling your friends for the top of the leaderboard will keep you going at it for hours at a time. There are only five levels, but with four difficulty levels and different modes such as arcade and co-op, you will find plenty of reasons to keep coming back. On top of that, there are three different ships you can pilot in the game; each dramatically altering the way you play.

Ferox is the default spaceship, giving you the middle of the road in each attribute. Personally, I achieved the platinum by using Nemesis. As said earlier, the boost is your most important tool and Nemesis builds it up the fastest making it much easier to hold onto your multipliers. Its agility also helps tremendously with avoiding danger when overloaded with dozens of enemies on screen. However, that doesn't mean it's the best ship for attaining the highest scores. I know Phobos is quite popular for that due to its overdrive advantage. Overdrive is the final ability that I have not discussed. When destroying an enemy, they will drop glowing green cubes that can be collected. These help towards reaching overdrive, a charging beam that can swallow all enemies in its path quickly building your multiplier and points as well. Depending on your play style, this advantage might make up for Phobos lacking in agility and boost. Or if you're the guy that always chooses Mario in Mario Kart - the happy medium, maybe Ferox is the ship for you.

Verdict:

Resogun is the best launch title for the PlayStation 4. You might think that implies a poor launch for Sony's next generation console, but it doesn't at all. Resogun is just that good. The visuals are beautiful, the controls are tight, the music is solid, but most of all Resogun is fun and addictive. As someone who has attained the platinum and reached a #7 arcade ranking in the world, I still feel a desire to return here and there. The problem is that I feel like I've already gotten everything I wanted out of the game. Twenty or so hours with a free (PlayStation Plus) game is nothing to scoff at though. House Marque has once again taken a classic concept and perfected it for a new audience and generation.

SCORE CARD

Awesome arcade shoot 'em up concept +3

High replayability for those constantly striving for a higher score +2

Knack was the first PS4 title to be shown off back at the reveal event in February. I along with many did not think it was the best way to introduce the graphical power of Sony's next-generation offering. However, Mark Cerny's team at Sony Japan was behind the project so I definitely had hope in its potential. It was being advertised as a mascot action-platformer in the veins of a Crash Bandicoot. This is not surprising since Mark Cerny is one of the minds behind Crash Bandicoot along with other memorable titles such as Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. For me, the game ultimately ended up feeling like a mix of God of War, Demon's Souls, and Sonic Adventure. Read on to find out if that is a good thing...

Knack is the first retail title that I played on my brand new PlayStation 4 a day after launch. By that point I had already read all of the scathing reviews so I won't lie and pretend that those harsh reviews did not have an effect on my experience with the game. It is difficult not to be underhyped when a game is receiving 5's, 4's and even 3's.

When booting up the game, I was immediately turned off by the opening cutscene. It goes on about this human goblin war that has been raging on for centuries; the presentation came off as stale and uninspired. However, things only got better from there. Once outside of the first chapter, the environmental designs made it apparent that I was in the next generation. Everything was crisp and sharp with no aliasing to be seen. Lighting effects were noticeably impressive with sun rays filtering through the trees onto individual blades of grass.

With that being said, the most impressive graphical aspect is the title character himself, Knack. Although the artistic design may not be for everyone, the technical effort behind the character should be respected. Knack is essentially comprised many individual models, eventually hundreds of them. Within the game, these models are known as relics. One of the major gameplay mechanics of the game is that Knack grows in size as he collects the relics, adding them on to his physical model. However, relics are not the only elements that Knack can absorb. Throughout the game, you will collect ice shards, blocks of wood, and crystal elements.

Each of the last three elements mentioned result in the more interesting sections of gameplay. For example, when you collect wood and absorb the blocks onto your body, you can set yourself on fire and use that to kill enemies or destroy flammable walls. Otherwise, the gameplay mechanics behind Knack are quite simple; so simple in fact that you will only use three of the four face buttons. Knack has the ability to jump, attack, and use a super. There isn't even a light or hard attack, just one punch associated with the Square button. However, you can jump and do a roll attach very similar to the ones seen in Sonic Adventure.

The combat sections in Knack are very reminiscent of God of War in that they are essentially battle arenas. Another similarity to God of War is that there is no camera control. You move from platforming section to platforming section usually with a combat arena placed in between. In these arenas, you will fight anywhere from one to maybe twenty goblins/robots/humans. When assaulted by the larger groups of enemies, that is where the super attacks come into play. After Knack has collected enough sun shards within the game environment, he can use the circle button to charge up. From there, Knack has the choice of three super attacks in total; one assigned individually to square, circle, and triangle. Pressing circle after charging up will cause a blast attack killing all enemies within a certain radius. Square will cause a tornado attack where Knack has the ability to run around the arena sucking up as many enemies as he can before the power up fades. Finally, triangle is used for the only range attack. He blasts multiple energy projectiles to kill enemies from afar.

So where does Demon's Souls come into the mix? You might be surprised to hear that Knack is actually quite difficult. In fact, it can get somewhat frustrating and I mean that in the best way possible. Even on normal, you are going to die and often. But for the most part, the checkpoint system will keep you close enough to where you last died that you want to get right back into the action. You will want to figure out the patterns of each and every enemy in the game so that you can make it through those especially tough areas. If you're like me and are stubborn, you will be determined to find your way through those sections without losing any health. On top of that, there are two difficulty settings above normal: Hard and Very Hard. The challenge helps to keep the gameplay fresh, but does not prevent it from becoming repetitive before the end. If you eventually master Knack's moves and enemies, it begins to feel like you are just going through the motions.

Fortunately, by that point the story will hopefully push you to the end. Although I said earlier that I was turned off by the presentation at the very beginning, Knack's story and characters really did grab me quickly. The human stories in particular can be quite sweet. I know it has received this comparison often, but Knack does have a bit of a Pixar vibe to it. It is family friendly, but in such a way that an adult such as myself will want to see the conclusion for each character. Knack's story and the mystery behind his existence is also a driving force behind the story. And although that mystery never pays off with a solid answer, it kept me interested the whole way through the story which lasts about 10 hours. For a full priced retail title, I found this a little on the short side. As already said, there are multiple difficulty settings, but you might not want to play through it a second time with the repetitive nature of the gameplay. One thing that might push you into a second playthrough are the trophies and collectibles. Many of the trophies in Knack rely on you finding all of the pieces to gadgets or crystal relics. With most of the crystal relics, they will be so rare that the only way to collect them all is to have friends that have found them within the game. When you collect any relic, it will show if a friend collected another relic from that group that you can receive. These aspects strengthen the lasting appeal.

Lastly, I wanted to add that I really enjoyed the music within the game. There are many repeat tracks that occur multiple times throughout the chapters, but each contains a simple melody that sticks in your head. You might even find yourself humming a few of them. It reminds me of the difference between the music in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIII. Both have excellent soundtracks, but the simplicity of the music in VII makes it much more memorable. XIII's music is complex with a dozen instruments playing all at once. This can create for an epic feeling, but you won't have those tracks stuck in your head. It's nice that Knack contains a soundtrack reminding me of the old days. I don't really have any strong complaints about the sound design either. Enemy grunts when they attack can be pretty cute, especially from the little goblins. I will say that Knack's voice actor didn't really fit the part for me though. It makes sense that he would have a deep and imposing voice when he grows to enormous sizes, but I think they should have chosen an entirely different voice actor for when Knack is at his smaller and medium sizes.

Verdict:

Knack is an action platformer from the past, created for a new generation. It has the simplicity and difficulty of the SNES era, but with truly beautiful graphics. The story and characters will push you through to the end even when you start to tire of the repetitive gameplay. Lasting only ten hours, it might not be worth your 60 dollars. However, if you miss the old school challenging action platformers of past generations, Knack is the only place you can find that right now.

According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the answer is "Yes."

Written by Andrew Meduri

The debate raged on strongly this past generation in particular. Should video games be considered as art? Well known critics such as Roger Ebert felt strongly that they should not be, going so far as to say that they will NEVER be considered as art. But as a film critic, should his opinion hold any merit? Gamers around the world refuted his claims, attacking him as a senile fool or begging him to play Shadow of the Colossus for the millionth time. He did eventually come out and say that his claims should have never been made, being that he has never played video games and has no right to say that the medium will never be looked at as a form of art.

Although Roger Ebert has never been proven incorrect, this week the gaming as a medium took a serious step. On December 17th, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the largest museum in the entire world, announced that it would be making two permanent additions to their collection. These additions are not paintings or sculptures; they are videogames; Flower and Halo 2600 specifically.

The first is no surprise. Flower by Thatgamecompany was developed for the PlayStation 3 and was immediately held as a great demonstration of video games as art. Not only is the game beautiful from an artistic standpoint. The game's themes and messages are relayed to the player through our actions; through input which generates a strong emotional response. This is something that no other medium can imitate, something that makes video games as an art form so special. The Smithsonian agrees with this sentiment, stating "the work cannot be fully appreciated through still images or video clips; the art happens when the game is played."

The second title is a bit more surprising and obscure. Halo 2600 was developed in 2010 as a remake of sorts for the popular Halo series on the Xbox. However, many would call the game a "demake" being that it was developed to be playable on the Atari 2600. As opposed to Flower, Halo 2600 "deconstructs the gamers' visual and virtual experience" and represents "the ever-changing relationship between technology and creativity." In fact, the two titles contrast each other perfectly.

The inclusion in the Smithsonian's collection "represent(s) an ongoing commitment to the study and preservation of video games as an artistic medium." According to the announcement, the two additions "are just the beginning of our work in this area. By bringing these games into a public collection, the museum has the opportunity to investigate both the material science of video game components and develop best practices for the digital preservation of the source code for the games themselves." And it doesn't seem like this will be the end of Smithsonian's efforts to change perception on the medium. They plan to keep monitor of games in the future and seek out those worthy of record.

As for my opinion, video games have always and will always be a form of art. In many ways, a video game is images, books, movies, and music all rolled into one. How can it not be considered art when games like Journey and Okami are essentially moving paintings? The addition of player input just adds a whole other layer of artistic expression; again something that can only be done through the medium of gaming. I hope there are more occurrences like this one to truly push the belief.

I want to hear your opinions as well. What do you think of the gaming additions to the Smithsonian? Do you believe that gaming as a medium should be considered a form of art? Also, which games do you think that the museum should add next. I will be the first to throw the obvious Shadow of the Colossus out there. How about you?

In the video attached from Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, the activity of eSports is discussed. During the discussion of a recent eSports event, a statistic was revealed that blew the minds of the Real Sports panel; that twenty million people watched the event or even the fact that it existed in the first place. Of course this lead into the discussion of eSports being considered as a real sport.

But before we get to that, there are a few other things we need to focus on that came up during the discussion. It's not long into it that the commentator labels the attendees and viewers of the event as nerds, which sure maybe we are. However, the connotation used causes the statement to seem derogatory. The woman speaking is in no way a gamer and doesn't know anything about the industry in general which makes her use of the word even less deserved. Like many other words that can be considered derogatory, only we nerds are allowed to call each other nerds.

Not too long after that, a member of the panel asks the question, "Do you have any statistics on how many of those people also go to Star Trek conventions?"

Really...? It's this kind of ignorance that is so frustrating recently. The VGX of a few weeks prior also echoes this. Stop making assumptions about the gaming population. We are not nerds in the sense that you are using the word. We are not socially inept, pimply, sloppy losers living in our mothers basement. We are most often adults with careers and families and friends. We go to the gym. We go to bars to be with friends. Most of all, our hobby is not childish or immature.

We do not all go to Star Trek conventions and dress up like Borgs, although I'm sure some of us do and should not feel embarrassed by the fact. The question should have never been asked in the first place. As if being someone that goes to a Star Trek convention is something to look down on? Another panel member at the end even goes so far to say that the people watching are even more insane than the ones participating, as if to say that the general idea of competitive gaming being an event is pathetic...

Let's state the obvious here: nerd culture is taking over the world. The gaming industry now makes much more than the movie industry. And the movies that are doing so well in the box office are most often inspired by comic books and nerd culture; movies like Star Trek, The Avengers, or even the new Godzilla coming next year. The times, they are a changing and some people need to catch up. Okay...rant over.

So now the central question: Should eSports be looked at as a real sport? I'm going to treat this as an editorial and give my opinion: No. It shouldn't be. And before you bite my head off...I'm not saying that they should never be considered a sport. I simply think that the competition needs more mainstream recognition before it can be considered a real sport. And maybe the perception of the mainstream media shouldn't even be a concern. However, it's going to be looked at as a game until these "cyber athletes" are treated at the same level of recognition as a football athlete or baseball athlete.

I have to wonder if this panel considers poker as a game. I would bet that they used to think that way. Online poker in particular is a video game in every sense of the word. It wasn't until recently when poker became an event televised on television that people started looking at it more as a sport. The top players at Full Tilt Poker can be looked at as athletes in my opinion. If eSports continue to grow at the rate they are now, these large events will begin to be televised, certain players are going to become well known or even famous, and then people will start talking about the competition more and more as a sport. It will happen eventually. It's only a matter of time.

What do you think? Should eSports be looked at as a real sport? If not now, how about in the future? Or maybe you think that it does not matter what it is labeled. All that matters is each individual's perception of the activity. Sound off in the comments below.

Roger Ebert must be turning over in his grave...wait, what? He's not dead? Oh, well that makes this even better then. No, but seriously...Roger Ebert is a very respectable film critic and I often trust his reviews in regards to movies. However, his words have strongly encouraged the question, "Should video games be considered art?" Ebert strongly believes and has come out on several occasion to say that video games are and never will be art. Gamers around the world have refuted his claims, attacking him as a senile fool or begging him to play Shadow of the Colossus for the millionth time. He did eventually come out and say that his claims should have never been made, being that he has never played video games and has no right to say that they will never be considered as art.

Well, if the US National Endowment for the Arts means anything, video games are art. The NEA is a US government organization and they will often fund artistic projects if they believe it will "enhance the public good." Well they must now consider video games as artistic projects since they have chosen them eligible for funding. This essentially means that video games are now legally an art form. Developers can apply for a grant of up to $200,000 dollars to assist them with their video games...or artistic projects.

In the end, $200,000 dollars is almost nothing for AAA titles like Call of Duty, Gears of War, or Uncharted, but these are not the types of games that will receive grants anyway. Not only would these games not benefit from 200 grand; they also do not necessarily "enhance the public good." I don't think people will really care about which games get the grants though. Let's just rub this one in Ebert's face.